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How to Write Usefully

paulgraham.com

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Re: How to Write Usefully

#51

Post by [deleted] »

keiferski wrote: post #45
pzqmpzqm wrote: post #34

The first time I read Zero to One by Peter Thiel, I was a bit miffed. Stupid shit stated poorly. The second time, inartful puffery stated overly plainly. The third time, individual brilliance stated clearly. Many replies here would do well to read, re-read, and re-re-read with an introspective mindset. This is perhaps the best quality material I have seen from pg for quite some time. Its clarity is brilliant and the…

The ideas in Zero to One are not new and can be summarized in a few paragraphs. As with basically every other book/essay/speech written by a financially-successful person, it is over-valued simply because its author is good at making money. That said, it is certainly better than your typical business book - but that isn't saying much.

[deleted]

Re: How to Write Usefully

#52

Post by timavr »

pzqmpzqm wrote: post #34

The first time I read Zero to One by Peter Thiel, I was a bit miffed. Stupid shit stated poorly. The second time, inartful puffery stated overly plainly. The third time, individual brilliance stated clearly. Many replies here would do well to read, re-read, and re-re-read with an introspective mindset. This is perhaps the best quality material I have seen from pg for quite some time. Its clarity is brilliant and the…

It is brilliant because it is brilliant and if you read 3 times and can’t see the brilliance, then....

Just stating that something is good doesn’t make it good, even though people might believe it.

We have a book, which was written quite a long time ago, filled with just utter nonsense. According to PG it is useful writing. It hits on all his points. It is much easier to be persuasive/useful when only you have the light, but when sun is out, you just one of em.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#53

Post by mozey »

> Confidence and humility are often seen as opposites, but in this case, as in many others, confidence helps you to be humble. If you know you're an expert on some topic, you can freely admit when you learn something you didn't know, because you can be confident that most other people wouldn't know it either

This is an excellent point. I'd much rather work with (and aspire to be) someone that knows when they don't know, than someone that has all the answers.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#54

Post by pzqmpzqm »

timavr wrote: post #52
pzqmpzqm wrote: post #34

The first time I read Zero to One by Peter Thiel, I was a bit miffed. Stupid shit stated poorly. The second time, inartful puffery stated overly plainly. The third time, individual brilliance stated clearly. Many replies here would do well to read, re-read, and re-re-read with an introspective mindset. This is perhaps the best quality material I have seen from pg for quite some time. Its clarity is brilliant and the…

It is brilliant because it is brilliant and if you read 3 times and can’t see the brilliance, then.... Just stating that something is good doesn’t make it good, even though people might believe it. We have a book, which was written quite a long time ago, filled with just utter nonsense. According to PG it is useful writing. It hits on all his points. It is much easier to be persuasive/useful when only you have the li…

You would do well to follow pg’s advice. Your post doesn’t make sense to me and isn’t very coherent.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#55

Post by lidHanteyk »

You made a fresh account to advertise a billionaire's printed collection of bullshit. I encourage you to re-read your comment a few more times until you understand how your words come across to others.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#56

Post by pzqmpzqm »

lidHanteyk wrote: post #55

You made a fresh account to advertise a billionaire's printed collection of bullshit. I encourage you to re-read your comment a few more times until you understand how your words come across to others.

I don’t care how it comes across. Fuck you, asshole.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#57

Post by DrNuke »

I can agree to some extent and that’s why I’m doing tenproblems.com ; good academic writing can be seen nowadays as the best shot we have at bonafide or not deceitful, at least, discussions. It should really be made accessible to the general public as a form of liberal education and to whomever realizes that a broader liberal perspective helps their own writing in the vocational public arena.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#59

Post by ahsans »

I've always found PG's essays to be incredibly intriguing.

I'm working in a startup, and everything he says is just very insightful about running one. I hope that PG shares more about growing a company that's running on an experimental business model.

This is one of his other masterpieces. There is a certain art of communicating and he's sharing that with the world for everyone to learn. Not many people share their experiences and miscellaneous things in detail.

I for one am thankful that PG still writes and I hope that he continues.

Re: How to Write Usefully

#60

Post by artsr »

keiferski wrote: post #13

As a counterpoint, I'd argue that the "mathematical" approach to good writing is inherently flawed. That is, trying to arrive at the formula for the "best" essay via dialectic (argument) is to miss the forest for the trees. Writing is an art, not a science. Formal logic was developed to display arguments, so if you are trying to be as precise and mathematical as possible, use that instead. Instead, I'd suggest readin…

> Writing is an art, not a science.

I agree with this, but avoiding writing nonsense is science, and not art. So there definitely is a scientific aspect to writing.

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